CAKE-LIKE PASTICHIO

It is fragrant, delicious and much-loved … what else? 

The classic pastichio.... But dressed with eggplants in a cake form. It’s quite impressive and it will steal the impressions at your table!

Enjoy it!

INGREDIENTS (for a 28 cm form):

-1/2 kg of minced beef

-1 large onion, grated

-2 garlic cloves, chopped

-500 gr. fresh tomatoes, grated

-1 tbsp.  tomato paste

-1 wineglass of dry white wine

-5 corns of allspice

-a little ground cinnamon

-1 pinch of sugar

-salt

-pepper

-olive oil

-250 gr. macaroni for pastichio

-1.500 gr. eggplants cut into medium slices

-280 gr. different yellow cheeses

BECHAMEL SAUCE:

-500 gr. fresh milk

-1 tbsp. milk butter

-6 tsp. corn flour

-1 egg

-salt

-pepper

-a little grated nutmeg

PROCESS:

It’s better to cook the minced meat the night before.

Put some olive oil to warm up and sauté the onion with the garlic...

...add the minced beef sauté them together.

Add the wine, let it evaporate...

 ...and add the tomatoes,

a wineglass of water, the spices except the salt which we’ll add at the end, and leave on medium heat to boil...

 ...until it’s left only with its oils.

Wash and slice the eggplants, salt them and put them in oven pan where you layered greaseproof paper. Spray them with olive oil...

 and place them in a preheated oven at 180-190C at the air function until they soften.

 As the eggplants cook, boil the macaroni. Drain again and place in a casserole. 

Then get the cake form and add the eggplant up all around in the form so it protrudes slightly from the form below and it touches the outsides a little and sit on each other a bit.

 To prepare the béchamel, we add milk with the butter and we warm it up

Keep a little milk in a glass and dissolve the corn flour, then pour the corn flour in the steamed milk and stir until we see it begins to thicken

Remove from heat, add the egg...

salt, pepper, nutmeg and the grated cheeses while stirring well.

Stir...

...and add in the macaroni, 

stir and then add the minced meat. Give it a final stir and pour carefully in the form below.

Sprinkle with cheese...

...grab the eggplant extending over the side from the form and fold it over onto the cheese.

Fill the gaps up with the remaining eggplant, sprinkle with cheese... 

...and bake in a preheated oven at 180C at the air function for 30 minutes.

Leave it to cool COMPLETELY and invert in a platter.

Serve as it is at the table and cut it there in slices.

GOOD LUCK!